As the broadcast networks are moving onto screening their pilots for next season, Amazon Studios too is kicking off its pilot screening process. But unlike the traditional TV networks’ pilot screenings, which are shredded in secrecy, Amazon brass are doing theirs out in the open. The company this morning has unveiled its inaugural slate of 14 pilots — eight comedies and six kids shows. All are made available for free on Amazon Instant Video, LOVEFiLM UK and LOVEFiLM Germany. Viewers are being invited to watch the pilots and review them on the site.
There will be “a lot of data points” in Amazon’s decision-making process as to which pilots will be picked up to series,” said Amazon Studios director Roy Price. Amazon will count how many people watched each pilot, how many watched each pilot from start to finish and how many shared it on social media. Additionally, the company will evaluate feedback from an online panel recruited on Amazon preview as well as traditional offline focus groups.
The analysis will be both quantitative and qualitative. For instance, a pilot that gets a lot of “likes” but the vast majority of people like it, don’t love it, won’t score as high as a pilot that has fewer fans but they all love it as passionate fan base is key to the success of online series. Amazon brass have not decided yet how many half-hour pilots they will pick up to series, with the orders likely to be around 13-episode each. The launch date for Amazon’s first original scripted series also is TBD. Meanwhile, the company has quietly started to develop drama series to add to its portfolio of comedy and kids programs.
Amazon’s comedy pilots available for viewing as of today include Alpha House, starring John Goodman with cameos by Bill Murray and Stephen Colbert; musical Browsers starring Bebe Neuwirth; Onion News Empire, starring Jeffrey Tambor; Those Who Can't, which was submitted though Amazon Studios’ Web site; Dark Minions, written by Big Bang Theory co-stars Kevin Sussman and John Ross Bowie; animated comedy Supanatural; Betas, starring Ed Begley Jr and Jon Daly; and Zombieland, based on the hit feature.
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